A guide rail of the above-mentioned type is known e.g. from DE 19719732 C1. The slide rail described there is in contact with the tight span of a timing drive of an internal combustion engine and comprises two spaced-apart slide portions connected to a common support arranged therebetween. Each of the slide portions is provided with a sliding lining made of polyamide without any additions of fibers. The support is double T-shaped in cross-section so as to be sufficiently strong in the direction of the contact force. The support can preferably consist of a highly loadable polyamide with additions of fibers. The background of this structural design is a reduction of weight and of the amount of material used for a slide rail.
Another slide rail having spaced apart slide portions is known from DE 102007026939 A1. The slide rail is here formed as an integral component that can be produced with little expenditure. Due to the recessed sections provided between the slide portions, a reduction of friction is accomplished.
These structural designs reduce friction on the one hand and result in a reduction of the amount of material used on the other. However, due to downsizing of internal combustion engines, installation space conditions which make it difficult to accommodate such tensioning and guide rails occur more and more often.